Thanks for the Memory

Thanks for the Memory


Paramount, 1938, B/W, 79 minutes, ***

Released November, 1938



As newlywed novelist Steve Merrick, master of comedy Bob Hope has his hands full trying to finish his first Manhattan masterpiece in this delightful romantic classic. While Steve's beautiful bride Ann (Shirley Ross) dreams of a better life for them, their bon vivant friends - a motley mix of metropolitan loafers and ne'er-do-wells of the gin and tonic set - drop in and out as they please, keeping Steve up late and away from his typewriter. Meanwhile, Louella (Patricia "Honey Chile" Wilder), a beautiful Southern Belle from next door, keeps meddling into their blissful lives. When Ann resumes her modeling career to allow Steve some freedom, housekeeping gets the best of him and he blows his top, causing a muddled mess of epic proportion. Only romance and a good old-fashioned love song can save the day in this witty and charming comedy romp through the minefield of marriage.



After introducing his theme song in The Big Broadcast of 1938, Bob Hope reteamed with his co-star from that film, Shirley Ross, in this, his second film.



Adolph Zukor Presents

Producer: Mel Shauer

Directed by: George Archainbaud

Screen Play by: Lynn Starling

Based on a Play by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich ("Up Pops the Devil")

Musical Direction: Boris Morros

Musical Interpolations: "Thanks for the Memory," by Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin "Two Sleepy People," by Frank Loesser and Hoagy Carmichael

Art Direction by: Hans Dreier and Franz Bachelin

Costumes: Edith Head

Interior Decorations by: A. E. Freudeman

Sound Recording: Phil Wisdom and Glenn Rominger

Photographed by: Karl Struss

Edited by: Alma Ruth Macrorie



Cast: Bob Hope [Steve Merrick], Shirley Ross [Ann Merrick], Charles Butterworth [Biney], Otto Kruger [Gil Morrell], Hedda Hopper [Polly Griscom], Patricia "Honey Chile" Wilder [Luella May], Roscoe Karns [George Kent], Laura Hope Crews [Mrs. Kent], William Collier, Sr. [Mr. Platt], Emma Dunn [Mrs. Platt], Edward Gargan [Flanahan], Eddie Anderson [Janitor], Jack Norton [Bert Monroe], Additional Cast: Jack Chapin [Messenger], Barney Dean [Kelly], Pat West, Vernon Dent [Refuse Men], Johnnie Morris [Newsboy]



Musical Program: [0:31] Two Sleepy People (sung by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross); [1:16] Thanks for the Memory (sung by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross)